Government rides rough shod over local democracy

The
inability of the public to hold to account a hand-picked
governance board developing the Wairarapa Water Use Project
must sound alarm bells for local ratepayers and the wider
public, Labour’s Water spokesperson Meka Whaitiri
says.

“It has been revealed today that the board
appointed in March to make quick decisions on the project
sits outside the Local Government Act and therefore won’t
be open to public scrutiny or subject to the Official
Information Act.

“The hasty formation of this board last
month was a condition of the proposed Wairarapa dam
receiving central government funding.

“The Government is
once again riding rough shod over the community and local
landowners; 13 out of 15 of which don’t want to lose their
homes to this project.

“It is also worrying that this
board appears to have been developed with a view to keeping
concerns about the proposed dam out of the
media.

“Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce has
threated to acquire the sections of opposed landowners
through the Public Works Act.

“This is an outrageous.
The people of Wairarapa are being ignored.

“A Labour
government will listen to local communities and restore
democracy to ratepayers who are treated with contempt by the
National Government,” Meka Whaitiri
says.

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